I was looking for an USB expansion dock to provide me with extra ports and connections through a single USB-C cable. The IOGear USB-C Docking Station with Power Delivery 3.0 is powered via the USB port, and you can use the dock to provide pass-through-power with USB-C. It is designed to be user-friendly, with an elevated back and lower front that effectively raises the screen for easier viewing, and a rubberised underside that prevents any slippage.
The ports are simple to get to as the sloped design leaves them open for use at the back edge of your laptop. When testing this I began with my Dell that doesn’t have a USB-C port included, so I was using the USB-C to A adapter to connect with no issues. I found everything to be easy to access – once I found the perfect position I didn’t have to shift my laptop about just to get to one port or another. The only issue I could see would be if your USB port was on the opposite side of your laptop to the dock – the adapter cable might not quite reach.
IOGEAR USB-C Docking Station Specs
| Function | GUD3C05 |
|---|---|
| USB-C | Built-in USB 3.1 G1 Type-C cable |
| HDMI | 1x HDMI port (v.1.4 spec compliant, up to 3840×2160@30Hz) |
| Mini DisplayPort | 1x miniDisplayPort port (v.1.2 spec compliant, up to 3840×2160@30Hz) |
| VGA | 1x VGA port (up to 1920×1200@60Hz) |
| USB-A | 3x USB 3.0 A ports, 1 port with BC1.2 charging |
| USB-C | 1x USB-C port for charging, 1 x USB-C for data |
| Card Reader | Supports SD/SDHC/SDXC @ UHS-I class, MMC |
| Ethernet | 1x Gigabit Ethernet port |
| Audio | DC3.5 port, support audio or microphone |
| Power Delivery Pass-Thru | PD 3.0 / 100W (A total of up to 85W can be charged to the laptop after deduction of max 15W used by the dock) |
Before I get too heavily into the technical details, let me stop to say that this is a nice looking dock that is built well for its purpose. The sloped angle gives a comfortable laptop height at which to work. It looks attractive and is designed nicely – all the ports are well placed and accessible from most angles, it seems well thought out. If nothing else, the power-through functionality is helpful in reducing the load of cabling some of us seem to wind up carrying everywhere.
IOGEAR USB-C Docking Station
When getting into Mac territory, the dock starts to really shine. The power-through USB-C port works, and I can get a charge via that method. You can run any number of useful connections from this dock – you could connect to a HDMI projector with the HDMI port, or run a presentation with a wireless hand-held mouse using the USB ports for the dongle. This would be a good dock to have available in a meeting space for multiple users. There’s no noticeable lack of quality to the HDMI output, and when I tested this out with a wireless USB Logitech mouse, it worked perfectly and instantly.
The IOGear hosts a lot of other connectivity that works as expected. There’s Ethernet, SD, Micro-SD, and a 3.5mm audio port. This is a nice docking station for versatility, especially if you’re wanting something that can be flexible for multiple devices. It runs with Windows10 and supports dual-monitor set ups but wasn’t the best at handling my Surface. I can’t personally vouch for the ease of use with an iPad but having seen other online reviews that using an external monitor with an iPad is a good set up.
Overall, this is a really nicely designed and actually useful bit of tech. Finally, check out our other digital home reviews.
Interesting! Thanks for the review, might have to try this out.